Transcript

1.
National problems and issues
M. S. Sridhar
A presentation for initiating discussion among students
in a one-day seminar at Mahatma Vidyalaya School,
Muthanallur, Anekal taluk, Bangalore Rural District

9.
Poverty

All simple and basic life styles are not necessarily
inferior, but it becomes a dynamic evil when

it generates a suffering
big injustices prevail and grow
Human soul is exploited and abused


Population explosion
 World’s richest in mid 16th century, but now home for
30% of world’s poor (half the population live under existence

minimum or 53 % live under a $ per day poverty line)
Gap between rich and poor is rising at an alarming rate
(richest 1/5 th have income 74 times that of poorest 1/5
th)
 Lack of rural infrastructure ossify poverty and
underdevelopment

Nationnal problems and issues S Sridhar
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10.
Poverty


…contd
“The most dramatic fall in population and rise in living
standards can only be achieved if Australia, Canada
and the US receive large numbers of India’s poor on
the same lines as they once offset the poverty and
population explosion of Europe at the turn of the last
[19th] century”
“Liberalisation and globalisation without solving
problem of poverty lead to Brazilian or Philippine type
of development with tragic disparity in opportunity
and income, poor health and degradation of the
environment”
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11.
Women
Notorious for gender disparity from foetal
stage to old age
 Largest share of world’s illiterate women
 Literacy of tribal women is only 18.19%
 20% of rural households headed by women
due to widowhood, desertion or male
migration

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12.
Children
44 m school children toil on forms, factories
& streets ( 15 m as slaves; debt slavery still
exists)
“The root cause is not poverty, but the
caste prejudice and value systems of those
who create and implement policy”
 Unable to achieve compulsory eight-years of
schooling for every rural child
 Despite world’s largest cattle wealth and
largest producer of milk, protein energy
malnutrition and vitamin deficiencies prevail

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13.
Food & Agriculture
2/3 rd work in agriculture, but account for
only 25% of GDP
 Despite monsoon dependence and famines for
4 decades, production increased faster than
population growth
 Self-sufficient agriculture, but lousy PDS
 Second largest producer of rice, wheat, fruits
and vegetables
 Strong support to small-scale agriculture in
1980s helped reducing poverty to some extent

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14.
Health
Lowest human development indicator in the
world
 70% lack access to PHC; Elders, young
women and children are worst affected
 Expenditure is 1/3 rd the minimum
prescribed by WHO
 Half the male population over the age of 15
are smokers; Tobacco will, in due course,
become the number one killer in India as well
 HIV/ AIDS wide spreading with 7 in 1000
affected (3.7 m)
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16.
Education
Lower castes and tribal communities
make the bulk of the poorer masses ( ½ b
dalits and tribal)
 40 m unemployed
 Third largest S&T manpower
 Female literacy rate of Kerala is higher
than every province of China. The only
Kerala model of development is in Cuba

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17.
Urbanisation
Urban population has grown from 50 m (16% of
population) to 459 m (34%) since independence
 Inadequate infrastructure – water, electricity,
roads (except communication)
 World’s largest number of two-wheelers and
other vehicles on poor roads cause pollution and
choking
 Cherrapunji, world’s heaviest precipitation suffers
from water scarcity
 Best part of the natural resources have already
been consumed and genetic diversity destroyed
( to feel the affluence of OECD countries)
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19.
Industry
One of the ten most industrialised countries
 Lack of competition (till recent years) and
subsidies of various kinds
 Services account for 50% of GDP (2001-02)
 Enormous investments in nuclear energy
have not resulted in cheap and unlimited
supply of power
 Greatness is IT companies are world beaters
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